


And I come running back

by krasati



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon Fix-It, as 'friends', they go on a trip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 08:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18279794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krasati/pseuds/krasati
Summary: Alex Manes is leaving Roswell. He invites Michael on a trip so that they can have a chance to try being friends. So that they can end on a good note before they never see each other again.Back in Roswell everyone is wondering why they are so damn stupid.(Alternate universe where after solving the murders and putting away the monsters, all is well in Roswell. Except for that handful of repressed issues.)





	And I come running back

Roswell is, well. Roswell. Alex has hated the town for the good part of his life. So he understands where Michael is coming from, trying to figure out how to escape a purposeless life on Earth. Who doesn’t want to run away? He punctuates that thought with a thump of his prosthetic to the dining table.

All is well. The fourth alien is caught. The alien triplets seem to have gotten their shit together and everyone could see that their old camaraderie from high school days is back, in some way. Peace has been made. Murders solved. The storm has passed. Jesse Manes will never lay a hand on anyone he cares about again. And him and Michael, are friends.

“God,” Alex proclaims, “I need a drink.”

* * *

The good thing about Wild Pony is that, a close friend of Maria gets free drinks. Alex always found time to visit Maria’s bar, even when he was still active in the army, and had two whole legs. Even right after he found out that Michael and Maria slept together a few times.

Alex thinks he shall order another three drinks.

In what feels not so distant yet kind of still far way, he knew Maria is staring at him.

“I’m right in front of you dumbass,”

Right. He takes a sip of his beer. He squints, “This tastes different?”

She rolls her eyes. “I swiped your cup with water,”

“Oh.” He takes another sip, another gulp. It feels good. The phantom ache in his leg feels like a hum.

“What’s in your head?” She asks.

He blurts out, “It’s weird isn’t it?”

“What’s weird?”

“That despite all the, you know,” he hums the X-files theme song. Maria snorts. His heart warms from the sound of it.

“Uh huh-“

“-we still have this. If I close my eyes it is like nothing has changed. Even when so much have happened.”

Maria is silent.

“Like, people died. We suffered. We won a fucking war against a homicidal alien, against my dad. And Max and Liz are still staring googly eyes at each other. I have no clue what the hell I am doing."

Maria's lips curl, but it does not reach a smile. “And you are here at a bar, because you were thinking about museum boy. And you are drinking while thinking about him, at my bar, in front of me, knowing that I am going to pry,“

“It’s like, nothing has changed, right? I thought I would change, after all that I have been through, you know? But it’s almost like, I am still the me from ten years ago-“

Maria flicks his arm, “Are you serious? You survived your dad. You survived a war. You are amazing and brilliant and you have medals to prove it. You saved Roswell and possibly the world! And you were the one of the bravest person I have known and you still are. So tell me, what’s in your head?”

He stills.

“You know,”

“I want to hear you say it.”

A pause.

“I’m leaving Roswell.”

 

* * *

 

”Why are you telling me this? You left before, joining the Air Force.”

“It’s different. I didn’t really had a choice back then. I had to go. And I knew I had to come back,”

Maria fills in the blanks. “But now you want to leave,”

“I am not extending my service anymore. I have no reason to stay here-“

“Not even for me?” she jokes, even when the mood is sombre.

Alex softens, “You know what I mean,”

The truth is, he never had a space, never had anything that was his. Turning out to be a decent codebreaker was by far a stroke of luck and the result of years of military training. The Valenti cabin, a gift out of kindness. 

And there was Michael. For the short time they were each other’s. He was an exception.

“You aren’t running away, right?“

He nodded.

“Not even from Michael Guerin?”

His first heartbreak that never really stopped.

“I don’t know what to do about him,” Alex admits, “I told him I wanted to start over. I told him I wanted to be friends. And I had hoped that in the time we worked together for some extra terrestrial activities we would find a balance,” But they didn’t. They were professional, working together and devoting their energy to figuring the codes and finding the perpetuator of the Roswell murders. And once they achieved their goal they parted.

He's wrong. He thought they could be friends. But they never had a chance.

 _Cosmic_. Michael had said. Alex’s heart begins to war in his chest and he flashes a smile at Maria. “But I guess, that’s my loose end, you know?”

She purses her lips. “Look, I can’t say that I am really happy that you are leaving, but I am glad you are trying to be happy. And I want you to know that for all the crap that our hometown have thrown at us, there are people here who love you. That you have a place here no matter what. And I don’t want you to avoid coming back just because Michael’s is a sore spot,”

He laughs bitterly, “It doesn’t matter does it? Michael’s gonna leave and it's like all the crap between us never happened at all,”

He pauses. And the next thought, the next truth, sobers him up. “And he deserves to find a home that makes him happy.”

“I get it, I do. But don’t you want to get some closure still? He means something to you, since we were kids. It’s still just Michael. Talking to him is going to help.”

It’s just Michael. Despite all his alien prowess Alex has never been scared of him. 

Wrong. There’s something he’s fearful about. But it’s not Michael himself Alex is afraid of.

“You are right,” he admits, “you are amazing and you should know that.”

Maria pulls him into a hug. Pressing a kiss to his temple, she says, “I love you.”

One of his dearest friend. Who stuck by him all these time. Who gave him nothing but endless support and warmth. Alex hugs her tighter.

In another world, he would have stayed. But Project Shepard has ended. There is no reason for him to be here. He has no other purpose but drift if he stayed. It’s different from Liz, who spent ten years outside Roswell before coming back. She has her family, Max, the hospital. Though she admitted during drinks once, that she would have left right after high school anyway. And maybe like Liz, he may somehow find his way back Roswell, but that isn’t important now.

Alex tells himself that he is going back to the cabin to sleep. That in the morning when he is awake and when he is a little less hungover, he is gonna find Michael. He doesn’t think about what he wants when he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

 

Alex drives to the Junkyard the next morning. Michael isn’t expecting him. He is shirtless and had what seemed like mechanic grease on his arms. He tilts his head to the side when he sees Alex comes out of his car.

Alex kind of wants to bite that neck and pull the curls of his hair.

Instead, he bites his lips before he asks, “Can we talk? In your bunker?”

Michael raises an eyebrow. But he doesn’t question Alex, and using his powers he pushes the trailer back to expose the door to the bunker.

“After you,” Michael says.

The thing is, Alex planned for this meeting. He planned to talk to him about them, about him leaving. He made sure to talk to him in the bunker so that the alien science there reminds him that Michael is leaving and never coming back and Alex will never see him again. To keep him anchored, focused.

Not planning meant death in the warzone. Not planning meant that your codes fuck up and the enemy figures out you are there chipping away at their firewalls and you screw up the whole op. Not planning meant going into a conversation exposed and unable to keep your emotions in check. Not planning meant being stupid and getting caught by your dad with the love of your life.

So when he blurts out “Do you wanna come with me”, he thought he might have just jumped into one of the nuclear bunkers lying around Roswell and never see the sun again.

“Um,” Michael says.

Alex watches him draws out what’s left the cowboy bravado within him.

“You come in here, telling me you are still in love with me, and that you don’t know what to do with that, and that you think you want us to be friends, that you are leaving, and now you want me to leave with you?” Michael sums up the trainwreck of their conversation, waving his hand to calm himself at the same time, though it does little to stop the hysterics that leaked from his voice towards the end.

Alex flounders, “I don’t know, I thought, well. If you are free, you could come with me to Albuquerque as a trip? And once you need to go back to Roswell you can-“

“No,” Michael interrupts, and Alex‘s face falls before he could stop it.

Michael notices of course, and when he speaks again, it’s gentler, “We have done this, whatever this is between us. And I hate how it always ends.”

“I hate it too,” Alex admits, “that’s why I want us to start over. I know I said all these before but we never really had the chance to make amends.So we can remember each other on a good note, when I leave Roswell and you leave the planet,”

Michael is silent. Alex waits, heart drumming fast in his chest.

At last he gives his answer. “Yea alright. Never really explored Albuquerque myself.”

Alex closes his eyes, to gather himself.

When he opens them, Michael is staring right at him. It's like they are seventeen again, no clue about what's happening in their lives, other than that they've got each other.

* * *

 

 

Michael meets Isobel and Max at the Crashdown. And Liz, he supposes, since instead of serving milkshakes to customers she sits next to him and leans in.

“So, what’s the alien triplets meeting for,”

“Dude,” Michael narrows his eyes.

Liz rolls hers, “Come on, Max and I are a package deal now,”

“Fine,” he takes a breath, “I am going on a trip to Albuquerque with Alex,”

“You are back together?” Isobel and Max exclaim at the same time.

“Lower your voice,” he hisses, then, “we are going as friends,”

‘Friends’, Max mouths under his breath. Isobel scoffs. Michael politely ignores the two of them.

“I knew he was leaving Roswell, but I didn’t know he asked you along,” Liz says carefully.

So he guessed right. Alex didn’t plan for him to come along. The thought makes him feel, _something_.

“He was always planning to leave?” Max asks.

“After all the, you know,” Liz waves her hand, “I guess there’s nothing for him to stay for,”

Ouch. _Shut up Guerin. You aren’t enough for him._

“He says he wants to find a purpose,” Michael adds.

“I get that. Finding yourself, to start again,” Liz looks up. Her eyes meets Max’s. They are having a silent conversation. The old, irrational jealousy sparks in Michael’s heart. Alex was his Liz, in some ways, but with deep wounds that never healed right. The scarred hand flares and he clenches it.

Isobel’s hand reaches out. She wraps her palm around his hand. “You don’t have to go, you know that right?”

“I know,” Michael smiles, “I want to. I want a closure at least. The thing between us, it has been ignored for so long. We both want answers.”

Isobel nods.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Not sure, but I don’t think it will be that long. I could leave when I am bored,”

“I’ll make sure your trailer and the junkyard are safe in the meantime,” Max promises.

Michael sinks back into the seat. “This will be the first time we are apart since we were eleven, huh.”

The Evans twins look at each other, before turning to stare at him sadly.

“We always thought you would leave, to be honest,” Isobel confesses.

“Be it the planet or to somewhere on Earth,” Max adds, “it was kind of sad, watching you. You were like those birds stuck in a cage for too long, pecking away at your feathers,”

“Ouch.”

“Michael listen, we don’t want you to be leave. We want you to be happy. If happy is you being free to seek answers and use that genius brain of yours, then so be it,”

The three of them never had serious talks about him. Isobel, well, her blackouts and forgotten murders. Max, because he is dramatic and not afraid to show it. But not Michael. He dodges questions and attention like a pro. It is a lifesaving skill he had to learn growing up.

Sensing that Michael is getting skittish, Liz places a steadying hand on his shoulder. He will never admit it to them, but Liz is an amazing person and Max is very very lucky. Maybe he will prepare it in a speech at their wedding.

He picks up his milkshake and raise it to a mock toast, “To my not-awkward trip with Alex I guess,”

“Cheers to that!” The table choruses.

 

* * *

 

“You just wanna fuck your dream boy in the largest city of New Mexico,” Kyle drawls.

“We are not there to screw!” Alex replies, exasperated. He invited Kyle to help out with the packing, not mock his life decisions. God.

Maria called earlier to laugh in his ear for a good ten minutes after she found out he had invited Michael.

“It’s pretty romantic to be honest,” Kyle gushes.

“It’s not-“ Alex cuts himself off and sighs. He throws himself onto the sofa.

“The two of us has a complicated history, and it’s not about getting together,”

“It’s about getting closure?”

“It’s not that we don’t love each other,” Alex says aloud, the thing he always knew but denied acknowledging, “it’s that we don’t know whether we should fight for it, after all that we’ve been through.”

 The room falls into silence. Kyle sits next to him.

“Why won’t you, though? You are not in a war anymore. You’ve won,”

Alex stares at the ceiling. “Every time I see him, I remember how much we’ve hurt each other. Then I remember that I promised myself that I can never put him in a position where he’s hurt because of me again,”

Kyle heaves a sigh, “The hand injury?”

“Yea,”

“Hug Michael for me will you?”

“Hug him yourself,”

“But I don’t want you to be jealous,”

Alex rolls his eyes. Can’t believe he’s talking about relationships with Kyle, of all people.

Kyle is in a curious mood, “How did you two even get together back then?”

“When we were kids it was easy. We were the outcasts. There was something that made our connection so intense. He was the only one who really understood me, and I was the only one who really understood him. Our own homes rejected us. But we aren’t kids anymore.”

“So what? Both of you grew up. You have changed but you still drift to each other. So there’s something there,”

Alex whispers, “But what if there isn’t anymore? What if we can’t fix it?”

“Then you just got to move on. But you are skipping steps Alex. You haven’t found your answers yet,”

“Argh.”

Kyle snorts. “Look if you want him to date you, just impress him in Albuquerque yea? Bring him to somewhere romantic and ask if he wants to probe you-“

Alex smacks the side of his head, “I can actually kill you,”

The asshole just laughs.

“Look, you are the bravest person I know. How hard can it be, talking to your crush about feelings?”

“Fine. Can’t believe you are my oldest friend,” Alex huffs.

Kyle’s face brightens, “Am I your best friend now?”

It’s strange, that he is pretty close to Kyle now. That was one bridge he thought had burned to crisp ten years ago.

That’s because Kyle tried to make amends, isn’t it? Alex isn’t that forgiving, he bears grudges like the average person. But he accepted Kyle’s apology, accepted his friendship.

Mending his relationship with Michael is a lot harder, he knows. But the point is that he tries.

“Not yet,” Alex says. Kyle pouts.

“But if you help me manage the cabin when I’m gone I might promote you,” 

Kyle grins.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I wrote this. But yes everyone who loves the aliens trio knows they are aliens.


End file.
